If you follow me on instagram then you know how special this episode is. Back in June of this year a friend of mine had sent me a post on instagram about a little 3 year old boy named Tru who was on vacation in Hawaii and suddenly became very ill. It turned out that he was fighting acute viral myocarditis. I immediately began praying for this little boy and his entire family. I shared every update I saw over the course of the next few weeks and I know many of you were praying for him as well. I was able to get in contact with his Mom, Danielle and I’m so excited that she was open to coming on the podcast and sharing his story with us all.

Tru’s fight and subsequent recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Both Danielle and I hope that this episode not only inspires you but that is also spreads awareness to the signs and symptoms of acute viral myocarditis. We also hope that this brings more awareness to the unfortunate need for more pediatric organ donors. Danielle also had one correction she wanted to make and that is that Tru had previously had Fifths disease which is a type of parvovirus, not coxsackie although both are known to cause viral myocarditis.

Thank you all for being here and taking the time to hear Tru’s story. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are my own or those of the person speaking. We share based upon personal experience but can not and will not give medical advice. Please speak with your primary care physician if you have any medical questions pertaining to your own health.

Follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

Follow Danielle on Instagram @daniellemariehunt

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

In today’s episode you get to meet Jenna Tanner a wife and Mom of 3 from Oklahoma. Jenna shares her story of surviving a sudden and major heart attack while home alone in 2022. In our conversation Jenna shares about her subtle symptoms leading up to the heart attack and how easy it is as women to disregard these symptoms. We discuss the disparity of information on female heart attack symptoms as opposed to male’s. She also shares about the critical moment she managed to call 911 and how quickly the first responders made it to her home. We also discussed the Impella heart pump and how shocking and incredible it was to her entire medical team when they implanted one into her heart.

Jenna’s story is one that needs to be heard because over 44% of women in the U.S. are living with some form of heart disease. It is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and it can affect women of all different ages.

I’m so grateful to Jenna for opening up and sharing her story with you all. If you’ve never experienced a heart attack chances are that at some point in your life you will know someone who has or will. Jenna and I both hope that her story will help people detect some of those symptoms early and seek help immediately.

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump go to abiomed.com

For more stories on heart failure and heart disease follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

In this episode you get to meet my friend, Michelle. I was so encouraged after this conversation. Michelle’s cardiac arrest happened in 2011 and yet she’s still out here sharing and bringing awareness to what happened to her. I can only hope that I’ll be doing the same in another decade or so.

Michelle's story is one of incredible resilience while enduring many trials. In 2011 while in her early 30’s, Michelle was a wife and young mother. She was incredibly active running 4 miles a day and very health conscious. So it was very shocking when her husband at the time realized she wasn’t breathing in bed and began performing CPR on her. Michelle tells her story about all that she remembers from her multiple hospitalizations, being in a coma for nearly a month and how a tiny heart pump saved her life and heart.

To follow along on Michelle's journey you can find her on Instagram @aquariusaveritt
For more on heart failure and my own heart failure recovery you can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

For more information on the Impella heart pump go to abiomed.com

Abiomed has been such a wonderful resource for me, connecting me to so many people all over the world who have experienced heart failure. Today, I get to introduce you to Franzi. She lives in Germany which also happens to be where Thorstein Seiss, the inventor of the Impella lives and is from. Franzi shares her story about how coming down with the common cold led her on a scary years long journey of battling heart failure. She went from a common cold to heart failure and needing an Impella, to her husband performing CPR on her, then getting a defibrillator and later receiving a heart transplant. One of Abiomed’s headquarters is actually in Germany but I was surprised to hear that organ donation rates are very low there. Franzi is a hero. She is boldly sharing her story to help bring more awareness to the need for organ donation in her home country. Franzi was very nervous to record this podcast because she was worried her English would not be good enough but I assure you she speaks much better English than I do German and I was incredibly impressed by her fluency.

You can find me on instagram @hillarysheart and you can find Franzi there as well @franzis_herzkraftwerk

To become an organ donor in Germany please follow this link: https://organspende-register.de/erklaerendenportal/

To become an organ donor in the U.S. please follow this link: https://www.organdonor.gov/sign-up

To learn more about the Impella device go to abiomed.com

In today's episode you get to meet Alex Gehle, a 32 year old husband and father to 3. Earlier this year Alex had a very sudden heart attack while playing flag football. I connected with him over instagram recently after seeing him on Abiomed’s page and I really wanted to hear more of his story. Alex not only survived his heart attack but he also survived coding multiple times. He had both the Impella CP and the Impella 5.5 and he was sedated for the majority of his hospitalization but there is one thing he shares about his Impella removal that really shocked me! His story is incredible, it’s miraculous and so hope-filled. We talk about our shared faith and how this experience has really changed his life. I’m encouraged by his bold faith and so grateful he’s alive to share his story.

You can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart and you can follow Alex @alexander_gehle

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump visit abiomed.com

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be taken as medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are those of the person speaking. All information shared is based upon personal experience and should not be taken as medical advice. Please speak with your primary care physician if you have any medical questions pertaining to your own health.

I am so excited for you all to hear today’s episode. This conversation is definitely the most I’ve ever laughed while discussing heart failure. Chavez has the most infectious and positive personality and he just radiates joy.

Today he shares his story of battling viral myocarditis at 29 years old after having recovered from covid. We talk about everything from law school to food blogging to heart failure and hospitals. Chavez graciously highlights the disparity he experienced as a black male seeking help when he was sick and how important it is to be your own best advocate.

The purpose of this podcast is to bring more awareness to all different types of heart failure by having people with firsthand experience share their stories. If I’ve learned anything along this journey it’s that the diagnosis may be the same but the symptoms and how they exhibit themselves can vary greatly for everyone. I’m so grateful to Chavez for sharing his story today.

I hope that this episode brings a smile to your face, maybe even some laughter and that you also learn something new about heart failure. Let’s dive into the conversation.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are my own or those of the person speaking. We share based upon personal experience but can not and will not give medical advice. Please speak with your medical provider if you have any medical questions pertaining to your health.

You can follow Chavez on Instagram @chaveyism and if you'd love some delicious recipes, follow his food account @butterloveandsalt

You can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart for more heart failure related content.

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump go to abiomed.com

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

Welcome back to the podcast. In this episode I interviewed my friend, Cheyenne. I first heard about Cheyenne through a friend whose sister was being treated for acute viral myocarditis at Providence St.Vincent’s just like I had been. My friend told me there was this girl who was also at St.Vincent’s due to heart failure but she had also just given birth. I remember praying for Cheyenne as I heard bits and pieces about her story but hadn’t met her. In April of last year I received a message from her on Instagram and from that point I got to follow along while she waited for a new heart. I will never forget the day, May 4th 2023 when she sent me a DM that said, “We got a heart! Surgery tomorrow!” I immediately began crying tears of happiness for this girl I’d never even met before. Cheyenne’s story is devastating in so many ways, but her positivity shines so brightly as she shares it all. She has come out on the other side of this with a super human kind of strength that I can’t even put into words. So, you’ll just have to listen and hear for yourself. Here’s our conversation.


You can easily register to be an ORGAN DONOR here: https://www.organdonor.gov/sign-up

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are my own or those of the person speaking. We share based upon personal experience but can not and will not give medical advice. Please speak with your primary care physician if you have any medical questions pertaining to your own health.

You can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump go to abiomed.com

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

On today’s episode you will get to hear from my friend Marcie Wastewater. She is a beautiful, healthy, super active wife and mom of 2. She is going to share with you her story of surviving SCAD (S-C-A-D) which stands for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. It’s as scary as it sounds and it has also been called the “healthy woman’s heart attack”. I can’t wait for you to hear how proactive and intuitive Marcie was with her initial symptoms and how her quick actions and directions helped save her life. We also talk a little bit about each of our experiences with EMDR therapy.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are my own or those of the person speaking. We share based upon personal experience but can not and will not give medical advice. Please speak with your primary care physician if you have any medical questions pertaining to your own health.

You can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

You can follow Marcie on Instagram @marcie_west_christo

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump go to abiomed.com

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com